Today on Pinstripe Alley - 6/4/21

Well, yesterday afternoon was ugly as hell, but at least the Yankees’ two wins in the middle of the four-game set against the Rays salvaged a split. Considering how much they were slumping entering the series, I expected them to just lose three out of four. Yes, my bar is set very high right now. Now, the Yankees have the joy of receiving the Red Sox, who have cooled off a little from their 17-10 April and are 16-13 since then but remain in front of New York in the AL East standings.

Somewhat surprisingly, this will be the first matchup between the two rivals in 2021. They did not face each other in April or May, but will now square off 14 times in the next month and a half. So... get used to them. The Yankees have not fared well (14-18) against AL East rivals thus far in 2021. That needs to improve ASAP if they have any hope of winning the division, and doing so against Boston is as good an opportunity as any. But can they win with Michael King starting Friday in front of a somewhat-weary bullpen? Well, we’ll see.

On the site today, Ryan will answer your mailbag questions and Tom will write about the surprising improvement of the Yankees’ bullpen from the past couple years (in particular, Jonathan Loaisiga has really come into his own). Later on, Erica will look into why the Yankees seem to rest players so often, and Andrés will discuss Gio Urshela’s recent slump and potential rebound.

Today’s Matchup:

New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox

Time: 7:05 p.m. EST

TV: YES Network, NESN, MLB Network (out-of-market)

Radio: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280

Venue: Yankee Stadium

Fun Questions:

1. Do you still get excited for Yankees/Red Sox showdowns, or are they just another game to you?

2. Prior to Opening Day, how did you think the Red Sox would fare in 2021? After two months, do you still stand by it?